This invention relates to an equipment for ball hitting practice which is suitable for use for swing or stroke practice for ball hitting games or sports such as golf, gate ball and the like, and more particularly to an equipment for ball hitting practice of the face angle display type which is particularly suitable for putter stroke practice.
Conventionally, for the purpose of swing or stroke practice of a ball hitting stick and more specifically a golf club such as a putter, a driver or the like, an electronic type golf training apparatus has been proposed and put to practical use. The apparatus is generally constructed so as to detect and display a swing orbit of the ball hitting stick and/or an angle of a ball hitting face of a head of the ball hitting stick in the moment of impacting or hitting of the face against a ball, so that a practicer may be weaned from a bad habit in swing or stroke of the stick and/or a defect in a ball hitting form, resulting in learning a well-balanced form.
Such a conventional golf training apparatus is generally classified into two types. One or first type is so constructed that a photosensor or the like is embedded in or vertically arranged on the head of the ball hitting stick or golf club in a manner to be in proximity to an expected swing orbit of the head of the stick club to detect a speed of the ball hitting face and/or its angle ( face angle) before and after impacting or hitting of the club head against a golf ball to generate an electrical signal, which is then visually displayed in the form of either an analog display or a digital display.
The other or second type is adapted to arrange a sensor on the side of the ball hitting stick or golf club. More particularly, a pressure-sensitive sensor is embedded in a sweet spot section of the ball hitting face of the club head, to thereby detect a magnitude of impacting of the face against a golf ball and/or its direction to generate an electrical signal, which is then fed to a display device installed at a remote place by wire or wireless transmission, resulting in obtaining a visual display.
Unfortunately, the first type golf training apparatus, as noted from the foregoing, is adapted to detect movement of the golf club from the outside of the club, so that it is difficult to accurately detect the face angle. Also, the apparatus causes a position for the detection to be restricted to a point at which the club head is impacted or hit against a golf ball and its vicinity, therefore, it is impossible to determine movement of the club head through whole stroke or swing including address to the ball, backswing, arrival in a top of the stroke, downswing, impacting of the club head against the ball and follow-through. Further, the first type apparatus requires to arrange a plurality of sensors such as photosensors, magnetic sensors and the like at predetermined intervals in proximity to a tee and a cup and along an estimated swing line of the club head. Also, the sensors, as well as the tee and cup are required to be arranged on a mat for practice or a floor for practice. Thus, the first type golf training apparatus is large-sized and complicated in structure, so that movement and transportation of the apparatus is highly troublesome.
The second type golf training apparatus permits the detection to be carried out with increased accuracy as compared with the first one. However, what is detected by the second type apparatus is only data instantaneously obtained at the time of impacting or hitting of the ball hitting face of the club head against a golf ball. Thus, the apparatus fails to detect movement of the golf club during the swing or stroke, to thereby fail to provide a practicer with, for example, data on unintentional movement of the face of the club head due to rotation of a shaft of the golf club about an axis thereof. Also, the second type apparatus fails to properly generate a signal unless the golf ball is accurately hit on a sensor positioned at a center of the ball hitting face. Therefore, the apparatus is unsuitable for a beginner unfamiliar with swing of a golf club, so that the applicability is substantially restricted.